#15 – Movies vs. Cinema

Hope Strikes Back Podcast

For years, there have been critics who say that cinema is a dying art. In a 2016 interview, with the Associated Press, Martin Scorsese, the illustrious director of Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and 2017 Oscar contender Silence, said that movies just aren’t what they used to be.

“Cinema is gone,” Scorsese said. “The cinema I grew up with and that I’m making, it’s gone.”

Certain members of our panel might agree with that statement. It used to be that you would go to the theater in November and December to see a high-quality film that would likely contend for numerous awards. If you wanted to watch a summer blockbuster, Memorial Day through August was your time. The rest of the year was filled with movies that were hit or miss. Occasional gems could often be found, but they were often the exception. Now, with new “franchise films” coming out every few months from Marvel, Disney, Warner Brothers, and other studios, moviegoers are having to be more and more selective about what they watch, and that’s leaving a lot of really good films with little to no audience.

Have any thoughts on the issue? What movies have you recently passed up seeing in favor of a blockbuster? Send us an email (feedback@hopestrikesback.com) letting us know. Or feel free to leave a comment below or message us on Twitter or Facebook. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Listen weekly as our panelists discuss the what’s going on in the geek world, analyzing your favorites geek comics, movies, and tv shows, while also discussing society and mental health, while trying to make the world a better place one episode at a time.